KOCHI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is probing into the gold smuggling through diplomatic channel, on Wednesday told the court that it was continuing its investigation into international links in the case.The submission was made by Assistant Solicitor General P Vijayakumar while opposing the bail petitions of nine accused persons in the case at the NIA court in Kochi.Vijayakumar submitted that gold was brought with the awareness of displomats at the UAE Consulate.
“We are still probing the international links in the case. NIA, via the Ministry of External Affairs, has approached UAE for a probe abroad. We have done our best till now. As there are diplomats involved, there is slight hesitation from the part of the foreign country,” he submitted.
He maintained that the smuggling of a large quantity of gold has threatened the nation’s economic security. NIA prosecutor Arjun Ambalapatta said the agency has collected all pieces of cyber forensic evidence. Similarly, the agency has the confession statements of five accused persons under section 164 of CrPC. “We have audio clips of the accused persons discussing modus operandi. In fact, it is clear that they were planning to smuggle more gold from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Malaysia and Singapore,” he submitted. The court decided to hear defence lawyers on Monday.